


Sleep Deprived and Paranoid

by Honeybeablainers



Series: Au Meetings [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-17
Updated: 2014-09-17
Packaged: 2018-02-17 18:49:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2319707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Honeybeablainers/pseuds/Honeybeablainers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt can't sleep and ends up meeting a handsome stranger doing laundry in his dorm laundry room at NYU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleep Deprived and Paranoid

**Author's Note:**

> This is partly inspired from a real life situation that I had in college and partly inspired by one of those AU posts floating around tumblr that had something to do with college and doing laundry. Also, many thanks to deanharrisackles, for being the best sista eva (and for being my beta when I forced her to read this.)

Kurt should have been asleep ages ago. It's not like he has a test tomorrow, or even a class, actually, but he likes to keep himself on a some what regular sleep schedule. It's Thursday night, and after a few rounds of drinks with Rachel and Santana, Kurt gets back to his NYU dorm room around 12 am. Showered and moisturized, he tucks himself into bed not much later than when he got in, mostly sober.

He should be asleep. Instead, he's lying awake, staring at his ceiling, and his ankles itch. He's been waking up with these small little bug bites on his feet and ankles and he has no idea where they come from. Every morning when he wakes up, more are there.

 _What if I have bed bugs?_ Kurt wonders to himself in the wee hours of the morning. _What if I am being eaten alive as I sleep?_ Kurt's eyes fly open. He looks over his shoulder at his alarm clock on his night stand; it reads 1:45. Am. Kurt groans. He just wants to be _asleep_.

He tosses and turns for a while, trying desperately to find a comfortable position and to ignore the itching on his feet. With his eyes squeezed shut, and tension creeping into his shoulders and neck, Kurt can't shake the feeling that his bed is crawling with bugs. He knows, _he knows_ , that he's being ridiculous. He knows what bed bugs look like, what their bites look like. When he moved to New York, he looked up these kinds of things, just in case.

But it's almost 2 am and Kurt can't shake this bugs-all-over feeling. With a defeated sigh, he shoves off his covers. He crosses his small single room and flicks on the light. He strips his bedding, all of it, and throws it in a pile on the floor. He grabs a bottle Clorox wipes and begins to wipe down both sides of his standard issue vinyl mattress. When he's finished with that, Kurt pulls on a pair of dark grey lounge pants over his boxer briefs and a NYU sweatshirt over his bare chest. He gathers up his bedding, detergent, shoes and keys and heads to the third floor laundry room.

Kurt isn't expecting to see anyone else in the laundry room when he gets there, it's two in the morning on a Thursday, technically a Friday. Most of the people he knows go out on Thursdays, or are, at this point, at home enjoying some company. Which is why when he walks in, he is sort of surprised to see a guy sitting in the corner on the floor doing something on his phone.

The guy looks up from his phone when Kurt walks in and Kurt gives him a polite smile. Kurt actually recognizes him. He's seen him walking in and out of the building and sitting in the lobby with some blonde guy with really nice lips. Kurt had no idea he lived on this floor. The guy is cute, though his appearance is a little different than the other times Kurt's seen him.

Instead of perfectly gelled hair, the guy is sporting a head full of thick, unruly looking curls that Kurt really wants to card his hand through. He's wearing grey sweats emblazoned with NYU on the side and a plain red t-shirt. It's more casual than the button downs and bow ties that Kurt is used to seeing on him, but it's also two in the morning. And Kurt isn't exactly dressed to his usual standard either.

Kurt loads all of his sheets into a washer and heads to the opposite wall to pay and activate the wash cycle. After pouring his detergent in, Kurt's not sure what he wants to do. He can stay and sit awkwardly with the guy in the corner, or he can head back to his room and watch whatever happens to be on Bravo.

Kurt's about to turn and head down the hall to his room, when the guy from the corner asks him a question.

"So what's your story?" He says. Kurt is a little confused by what the guy means and a lot distracted by the curls on his head. In his defense it is really late and he might still be a little tipsy.

"Like, as in life?" Kurt replies. The guy in the corner chuckles and stands. Kurt tries to ignore the way his sweats hang low on his hips and the thin, bare strip of skin between the top their waistband and the bottom of the guys soft looking tee. He mostly fails.

"No. Like as in why you're doing laundry at," the guy looks down at his phone, "two-twenty in the morning."

"Oh. Right." Kurt feels his face warm. The guys face is open and friendly. _And handsome_ , Kurt thinks. But he doesn't have time for that because he has to answer a question. "Uh, I was having some trouble sleeping, and, um, my brain convinced me that I had bed bugs."  _And now this totally cute guy thinks I'm covered in some kind of infestation. Perfect.  
_

"I know I don't have bed bugs," Kurt says quickly, "but once I thought it, the thought wouldn't go away. So I guess, just, paranoia. That's my story." Kurt kicks himself for being so flustered and making a fool out of himself in front of this pretty cute guy. He tells himself that's it's because he wasn't expecting to see anyone. It's pretty lame as far as excuses go, but seeing as how the the real reason is because this guy has the most beautiful eyes he's ever seen, Kurt's sticking with it.

The guy in the corner gives another small laugh and something in Kurt wants to know what his real laugh sounds like. Something in Kurt wants to make this cute, cuddly-looking, late night laundry do-er, laugh. Something in Kurt also needs to _calm the hell down_.

A beat passes in their little exchange and then Kurt asks, "What about you? What's your story?"

"My roommate is having sex," the guy says bluntly.

"Oh," Kurt says. He wasn't expecting such a direct answer and isn't quite sure what to say next, so he goes with something sympathetic. "That sucks." Kurt then tries to avoid thinking about sex and this guy together in the same sentence but his will power doesn't seem to be very high at the moment.

"Yeah. He has sex every Thursday night and so I do laundry." The guy says with a shrug.

"You don't have a friends place to stay at on Thursdays? Or like, someone to hang with until your roommate is done copulating?" Kurt thinks that Rachel would probably let him stay over with her if he was in that sort of situation, but Santana would probably invite herself over so that she could listen.

Corner Guy smiles, and to Kurt it looks like Christmas morning. "Copulating. Very nice word choice. I guess I probably could stay at a friends, but they all live on campus too. So that means I would be the unwelcome guest for their roommates and it all just gets very circular. Besides, laundry has to be done sometime."

"I guess that's true."

A few moments of silence pass between them and Kurt's unsure what he should do. It sort of feels like their little conversation is over and he feels like he wouldn't be blamed for saying goodnight and heading back to his room. But this guy is in the middle of his wash cycle and the chances they will run into each other again tonight are pretty high. Also, the guy is being sexiled and Kurt feels a little bit bad for him. And even though the conversation feels over, Kurt kind of doesn't want it to be.

 "I was just about to watch some late night trash tv, if you would like to join me?" Kurt asks. He feels his stomach clench in anticipation. It's strange and he doesn't usually act like this, but he really wants this guy to say yes. He really needs to find out this guys _name_.

"Oh, no. I'm fine here. I wouldn't want to impose or anything," Corner Guy says politely. _Oh god, looks_ and _manners. Where has this guy been all my life?_ Kurt thinks to himself.

"Trust me, you wouldn't be imposing. And I swear I don't have bed bugs. It was just me being sleep deprived and-"

"Paranoid?" Corner Guy finishes with a small smile and soft gaze.

Kurt feels his stomach swoop as he laughs with the cute boy with the handsome smile in the laundry room on a Thursday night.

"Yes. Sleep deprived and paranoid. Sure you don't want to watch Real Housewives of Whatever with that winning combination?"

Corner Guy does that small smile again, and this time the corners of his eyes crinkle and Kurt has to focus on maintaining his upright position while he waits for an answer.

"You know what," Corner Guys says, locking eyes with Kurt, and god if that doesn't make his heart _race_ , "I love Real Housewives of Whatever."

"Who doesn't?" Kurt replies. "I'm in 322." Kurt gathers his keys and detergent from where they are sitting on top of a washer and motions for Corner Guy to follow. The two of them walk in a companionable silence down the hall and they are halfway to Kurt's room before Kurt realizes he still doesn't know this guys name.

Kurt struggles with how to introduce himself. Does he just blurt it out? Does he wait for Corner Guy to introduce himself? He's not entirely comfortable with that second one; he doesn't like the idea of having some one in his room without knowing his name. Plus, Rachel would kill him if she found out, which would mean some kind of lecture, and Kurt tries to avoid anything that leads to Rachel talking for long, uninterrupted periods of time.

So that means Kurt's stuck with option one: Just blurt it out. He doesn't think his nerves can handle that. And since when does he get nervous talking to guys? He feels so out of his element here. Kurt chances a side glance at Corner Guy, and of course, gets caught. Corner Guy is looking at him from under his beautiful thick lashes, and flashes Kurt another one of those handsome smiles. Kurt blushes and looks away. He takes a deep breath. _Just do it, Hummel_ , he thinks to himself.

"I'm Kurt, by the way," he says as he stops in front of his door. Kurt has his key ready, but struggles to unlock the door with his hands full. Corner Guy, who only has a laundry basket to carry, puts his hand over Kurt's, stilling him.

"I'm Blaine," Corner Guy - Blaine- says softly, looking right in to Kurt eyes, and honestly, Kurt's heart is going to _explode_ if he keeps doing that. Blaine takes the keys from Kurt's hands and swiftly unlocks the door. Kurt reaches to open it and let Blaine in, but Blaine beats him to it.

"Allow me," he says, holding it open with his arm over Kurt's head. Kurt smiles his thanks and ducks under Blaine's arm.  As Kurt ducks, he notices that Blaine is up on his tiptoes holding the door open for him.Kurt grins at how cute it is.

He sets his laundry things down on the en-suite kitchen counter and motions for Blaine to do the same. Kurt reaches for his keys, still in Blaine's hand, so he can hang them up. Blaine hands them back with a smile and lets his fingers run lightly over the full length of Kurt's palm and fingers as he pulls away.

Kurt feels a shiver run up his spine. _Thank god for sleep deprivation and paranoia_ , he thinks.


End file.
